Letter: We Need Gun Owners’ Help

The residents of Hartford who attended Town Meeting on Saturday, April 6, did not vote against the assault-weapon and high-capacity-magazine ban as Mitchell A.M. Ota asserted in his April 11 letter. By a voice vote, it was decided to indefinitely postpone a vote on Article 8. Therefore, a meaningful discussion concerning measures to enhance gun safety did not take place and there was no vote on Article 8, which called for universal background checks on gun purchases, making gun trafficking a federal crime , and banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

With nearly 85 Americans dying of gun shots every day and the mass shootings that are becoming all too frequent, it is time that responsible gun owners step up to the plate and take action to significantly enhance gun safety throughout our nation. It is estimated that four out of 10 guns purchased are made without any background checks. Moreover, the small state of Vermont in 2010 was the 16th most common source of guns used in crimes in the entire country. In order to significantly reduce deaths and injury from gun violence, gun owners must be a major part of the solution. There is a lot more than merely possessing a gun to responsible gun ownership.

To the Editor: Hartford residents voted against the assault-weapon and high-capacity-magazine ban at their April 6 Town Meeting. An article calling for sending a letter in support of those bans to state and federal legislators was tabled indefinitely. The voters knew that the proposed letter was in direct conflict with the 2008 U.S. Supreme Court decision (District of Columbia v. …

To the Editor: I beg to differ with Dick Brooks’ April 21 letter (“We Need Gun Owners’ Help”) concerning the Hartford Town Meeting of April 6 and the decision to indefinitely postpone a vote on an article supporting various gun-control measures. I, for one, voted against it not just as a procedural matter but also a substantive one. And many …